


Rest Your Bones

by singingcodfish



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, English Majors, Fluff, Just singing, Light Angst, M/M, Michael is a Little Shit, They aren't technically dating, and sleeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-19 19:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11320410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singingcodfish/pseuds/singingcodfish
Summary: Basically, some kids in Michael's dorm blew up part of their hallway so everyone had to evacuate. Michael is staying with Jeremy, Christine, and Jake and that couch is t o o small for him to sleep on because l e g, he complains a l o t.





	Rest Your Bones

**Author's Note:**

> Im changing this to pins and patches bc i live for it and also it seemed fitting??? Idk i love michael and jake sm

The fake leather of the couch cushions squealed as they moved again, followed by a popping noise and a muffled "ow, fuck!"

"Michael, could you stop talking? For like, two seconds?" Jakr groaned after what seemed to be the millionth time the long teen had shifted loudly on the uncomfortable two seater couch.

He just groaned, "You shut up, I can't get comfortable!" Michael sat up, rubbing the back of his neck, "Either I'm all curled up and I'm stabbing myself in the ribs with my elbows, or my neck is at a 90 degree angle and my legs are all up in the air!"

"Stop shouting, you'll wake up Jeremy," Jake sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "And Christine, and you know she'll make this place a living hell if we wake her up." 

Michael snickered, "You're not really wrong, but I'd totally just blame it on you." 

Suddenly, a pillow smacked him square in the face, earning a screech, "You need to shut up, Mell! I swear," Michael grinned at him and Jake just glared, but his anger failed after a few moments, "I hate you, you know that right?"

"No, you don't," Michael responded way too innocently.

Jake sighed, mumbling to himself, "Gah, i hate that you're right, oh I can't believe I'm doing this... You can sleep in my bed until we figure out better sleeping arrangements or your dorm finishes their repairs."

"Alright, one, the chem and engineering kids using a microwave as a bomb is  _so_ not my fault, okay?  Also, I don't want you sleeping on here. Like, it's pretty bad" Jake blushed and chuckled nervously, "Um,, I mean together?"

Michael raised an eyebrow with a sly smirk, "N-no! That's  _so_ not what I meant! Oh my God, Mike. No. I don't want to  _sleep with you_ sleep with you!" 

He was dying of laughter, "Dude, it's chill. I know what you meant-"

The two were interrupted by a loud knocking, "Can you  _shut_ up? I love you guys but it's  _two AM!_ "

Jake got up and opened the creaking door, "Sorry, Jeremy. We'll be quiet, did we wake Chrissy up?"

"No, thank the Lord. Now, good ni- morning- whatever!"

When Jeremy left, grumpily so, the two college students were left in an uneasy quiet. Jake coughed in an attempt to make it less awkward, "So are you gonna sleep there or...?"

Michael looked up at the sudden break of silence, a little flustered and surprised, "Oh, um.. Would that be okay with you? If I slept up there? I mean, it's really not comfortable on this couch, it's not even really a couch just more of a chair with a little extra space and if I slept on the bed, I promise I wouldn't make it awkward like I normally make situations like that I just want sleep because lately I've just been running on like, three hours of sleep a week and a monster/coffee/5 hour energy hybrid thing and I'm t-"

"Mikey, you're rambling." Jake said softly as he stood up to grab an extra pillow, "C'mon, the bed is fairly big..."

"Yeah, sure... thank you," The red of his hoodie moving jerkily as he tried to untangle himself from the thin cotton sheets Christine had given him.

Michael and Jake settled down on the bed, both facing away from the other so as to not make the air surrounding them any more uncomfortable than it already. Neither of them could sleep, the heat radiating off the other making one warm but cold with the small distance. Michael could hear Jake's uneasy breathing under the blanket, he could hear every tiny shift in the sheets and every sigh. He couldn't see him, but he could imagine him. And no, not in that way! Just, Jake. He could imagine him. And Jake could see Michael stressing out in the living room, or Jer's bedroom, surrounded by textbooks, playing on his DS, joking around and always being there for everyone. He could remember one time during winter break when Michael couldn't a plane ticket to visit his family in the Philippines for Christmas and how hurt he had looked. Jake was the only one Michael knew on campus, so they had spent it together alone, eating Ramen and sharing childhood stories. Thinking all of this made Jake think of a song he had grown up with. It used to be one of his favorite songs because it described the thing he wanted most in the word. _Home_. 

_Home is where your heart is set in stone_

_Is where you go when you're alone  
_

_Is where you go to rest your bones_

_It's not just where you lay your head_

_It's not just where you make your bed_

Jake never really had a home, he's had a house, but never a home. That wasn't true, he had a home but his home left him when he was a young teen. His home was everything to him, who he would go to when kids picked on him at school or when he had a nightmare. His home who meant everything to him, his home who left him when he was still a kid, who left him to fend for himself, in a big house thats completely empty and echoing with empty, unfullfiled promises. His thoughts had been derailed like a train in a storm, and continued to plow through the hail until a lone voice came stepping lightly on the fresh snow in Jake's mind, "You still awake?"

"I don't know," His voice sounded deflated, it might be able to pass off as just being tired. 

Michael sat up on his elbows, "What do you think brains taste like to zombies?"

"Mikey, it's 3:00 AM," Jake turned around to face him as he spoke, propping his head up on his hand.

"I have absolutely no idea." Jakes hair was messy, but he honestly didnt care, "You'd have to ask a zombie" 

"Good suggestion, I'll get on that right away!" 

Jake laughed, throwing a hand up to cover his mouth, after a hot minute, he sobered and looked over at Michael, "Why do you always wear that hoodie? Youve got to get uncomfortably hot in it. I've seen you without it maybe six times since highschool."

The older boy dropped his goofy grin and smiled softly, "I'm not really sure, it just reminds me of home, I guess... I bought it about when i was 15. Just before i had come out to my family and i already had two or three latches on it when it happened.  
"Oh man, I was so scared to actually come out, especially to my dad. But they were both super supportive and the next day they bought me my pride patch. But,, the hoodie just means a lot to me and I get anxious without it..."

His big chesire cat smile wad back, did he ever stop smiling? "When was the last time you sang out loud?" He glanced over at Jake, "Probably belting secret showtunes in the shower,"

That earned him another slap, "Why do you need to know, Mell?"

He smiled lazily, "Music is eternal, Jakey D. Learn it, love it, live it."

"You're so cheesy, why are we friends again?" Jake responded with a laugh.

"Answer the question,"

He sighed, thinking, "Um, probably earlier today? Well, yesterday. Before you came home."

"Are you good at it? Singing, I mean. That could've been taken very very very wrong, I'm sorry. I meant are you good at singing 'cause if you are-"

Jake laughed, "Mikey, you're doing it again. Were you wondering if I'm any good at singing?"

"Uh, yeah. I think that's what i was going for," He mumbled, the younger of the two just nodded a little bit and hoped Michael could see him in the dark.

Michael closed his eyes and laid back on the bed, "You should sing for me sometime," he smiled a crooked smile, it fit him so much more than the overexaggerated smile he always had on. Maybe it was because it was just for Jake, it was just for him in the twilight hours. That smile was meant for him when it was just the two and they weren't bickering or competing or studying. That smile was the sun in the spring that begins to warm the snow, make the relentless hail fall stop.

"Now?" He asked, Michael nodded, "What song?"

He shrugged, "Any song, your favorite, the one that's been stuck in your head. One that reminds you of me," He winked, it was quick and dark but Jake saw it, "Unless it's like, Depache Mode or Eminem or something. Jake, don't you  _dare_ -"

Jake giggled, actually _giggled_ , the sound ringing out into the night, "I don't listen to either if them anymore! I'm offended!"

"Dude, I'm kidding. Please sing for me?" When Michael pouted, he got his way. It was his big brown eyes getting watery that always sold it.

_"I'm a phoenix in the water_

_A fish that's learned to fly_

_And I've always been a daughter-"_

"A daughter?" Michael inquired playfully, "Jakey, is there something you want to tell me?"

He ignored him and continued half mumbling/half singing the lyrics,  _"With every small disaster_

_I'll let the waters still_

_Take me away to some place real_

_'Cause they say home is where your heart is set in stone_

_Is where you go when you're alone_

_Is where you go to rest your bones_

_It's not just where you lay your head"_

He was listening intently now, for two main reasons. The first being it's a beautiful song sung by a beautiful boy, the second being Jake's voice. It was smooth, but still groggy with lack of sleep. The song was slow and lonely, it hit close with Michael. He missed home, not going to see your family in almost a year can do a lot, huh? He was pretty sure Jake had repeated parts of the song that weren't necessarily supposed to be repeated, but he wasn't complaining. He did that too sometimes, get lost a little when singing to himself so he starts the part over.

_"So when I'm ready to be bolder,_

_And my cuts have healed with time_

_Comfort will rest on my shoulder_

_And I'll bury my future behind_

_I'll always keep you with me_

_You'll be always on my mind_

_But there's a shining in the shadows_

_I'll never know unless I try"_

The last sound Michael heard before he drifted off into a peaceful sleep was Jake's lulling humming. Everything else was quiet, still. It was different than the chaos and noise the alartment is usually succumbed in, but he liked it. There were no little kids, no exams, no screaming moms, no coaches, professors, nothing. It was just the two of them, completely entranced with each other. Michael was breathing softly, pulling Jake a little closer and snuggling into his back, "G'night, loser..." he mumbled before falling into a gentle sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> But no homo  
> ___________________  
> Okay writing one shots is like my favorite thing ever, especially incorporating music into them. I love playing a song on loop and writing based off of it and how the music makes me feel.  
> Also, in case you couldn't guess the song is called "Home by Gabrielle Aplin


End file.
